Record-setting 2013 weather: Wet, cold - and dry?

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The weather couldn't seem to make up its mind what it had in store for Oregon in 2013.

The state saw drought and the wettest September on record, as well as withering heat and sub-zero temperatures in the Willamette Valley.

An early December storm dropped several inches of snow on Corvallis and Eugene, yet snowpack levels in the nearby Cascades are well below normal.

The United States drought monitor listed 100 percent of the state as at least abnormally dry in 2013, according to Kathie Dello, deputy director of the Oregon Climate Service at Oregon State University.

"All of Oregon is listed as dry, but southern Oregon has been historically dry in 2013," said Dello, "and Medford and the southern coast have a chance to have their driest year on record."

As of mid-December, the Medford Airport had received just 8.97 inches of precipitation; the record dry year was set 1959 with 10.42 inches.

The North Bend Airport was nearly five inches short of its driest year on record.

Eugene remains on track for 2013 to be the driest year on record. Only 21.19 inches of rain have fallen so far. The current record dry year is 1944, with 23.26 inches of rain.

Despite abnormally dry conditions throughout Oregon for most of the year, it was soggy September.

September began with an enormous thunder and lightning storm that covered much of the state, triggering hundreds of fires and contributing to what Dello called a "bad wildfire year in Oregon." The storm also dumped nearly three inches of rain on the southern Willamette Valley.

Near the end of the month, the remnants of a typhoon named Pabuk swept into the state and hammered western Oregon. Some precipitation monitors near Coos Bay recorded as much as 5.77 inches of rain on Sept. 29.

"Unfortunately, the September precipitation was not enough to offset dry conditions the rest of the year," Dello said. "When it's dry, that's not how you want to receive you rainfall - in two major events. Rivers get only temporary relief and the torrential downpours can cause damage to agricultural crops.

"It's better to have smaller, sustained rainfall events than a couple of major outbursts," she added.

Oregon experienced a comparatively warm summer with more days than usual when temperatures exceeded 90 degrees, including the end of June and in September between the two rain events.

On the other end of the spectrum, temperatures in early December plummeted to record lows as an Arctic front moved in.

Eugene, for example, recorded its second coldest day on record when the mercury hit minus-10 degrees on Dec. 8.

Interestingly, it was not the coldest Dec. 8 on record as the all-time record low for Eugene of minus-12 degrees also occurred on Dec. 8 in 1972.

The December Arctic front hit the Corvallis and Eugene areas hard. Much of the area received 8-10 inches of powdery snow, forcing weeklong shutdowns of many schools and activities.

Dello said the lack of official weather recording stations in Oregon is one reason volunteers are needed for a statewide network that uses Oregon citizens to collect local data on rain, snow and even hail. The program is part of the national Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, or CoCoRaHS.

The Oregon Climate Service, which is part of OSU's College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, coordinates the Oregon network. Persons interested in volunteering should go to the CoCoRaHS website to sign up.

"Data collected by volunteers throughout the state help provide us with much more accurate data, which leads to better precipitation maps and over the long haul, more accurate forecasting," Dello said.